Scrub brushes are used for a wide variety of cleaning chores. Typically such scrub brushes include a bristle block. Depending from the underside of the bristle block is an array of bristles. Formed above the bristle block is a handle that is sometimes supported by a pair of spaced apart handle supports that extend between the bristle block and opposite end portions of the handle.
In using such scrub brushes, one wraps his or her hand around the handle and begins to move the scrub brush over an area to be cleaned. Normally during this cleaning operation, the knuckles and the knuckle area of the hand lay on the underside of the handle and generally face the upper side of the bristle block. Because the bristle block generally lies very close to the handle, it is not all that uncommon for the hand to slightly slip from the handle and this results in the knuckles and the knuckle area of the hand impacting and sliding against the bristle block. This can obviously result in the knuckles of the hand being scraped or cut. The surface being cleaned can even make matters worse. For example, when the scrub brush engages an obstruction or an area that is very difficult to clean, it is possible for the entire scrub brush to cock or twist to one side and that often causes the hand to slip from the handle and results in the knuckles of the hand or the area in and around the knuckles to impact against an adjacent portion of the scrub brush or the bristle block.
Moreover, the force exerted by the scrub brush against the surface being cleaned is generally the result of the force being applied to the handle of the scrub brush through the palm of the user's hand. From an efficiency point of view, the force generated as a result of the palm bearing down on the handle is not always optimum, and in fact this arrangement or approach can lead to hand fatigue, especially on cleaning jobs that are difficult and require hours of scrubbing.
Therefore, there has been and continues to be a need for a scrub brush that protects the knuckles of the hand while the scrub brush is being moved and forced over an area being cleaned.